Functions

Basic syntax

There's no return statement in Squiggle; function definitions are values.

If you need to define local variables in functions, you can use blocks:

Anonymous Functions

f(x, y) = x * y and f = {|x, y| x * y} are equivalent.

Squiggle functions are values, and you can save them to variables, pass them to other functions as arguments, return functions from functions, and so on.

Function Visualization

The Squiggle viewer can automatically visualize two types of functions, without manual plots:

1. (number) => number
2. (number) => distribution

When Squiggle displays a single parameter function, it needs to select some range of parameter values.

The default range is 0 to 10.

You can manually set the the range in the following ways:

• With Plot.numericFn or Plot.distFn plots, using the xScale parameter
• Through the chart's settings in the UI (look for a gear icon next to the variable name)
• With parameter annotations (explained below)

Parameter Annotations

Function parameters can be annotated with domains.

Examples:

• x: Number.rangeDomain({ min: 5, max: 10 })
• x: [5, 10] — shortcut for Number.rangeDomain(...)

Annotations help to document possible values that can be passed as a parameter's value.

Annotations will affect the parameter range used in the function's chart. For more control over function charts, you can use the Plot module API.

Domains are checked on function calls; f(x: [1,2]) = x; f(3) will fail.

We plan to support other kinds of domains in the future; for now, only numeric ranges are supported.

Annotation Reflection

Domains and parameter names can be accessed by the fn.parameters property.

For example, domains extracted with .parameters can be reused in annotations of other parameters: